1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a reagent system for differentiation of leukocyte sub populations in whole blood. In embodiments, the reagent system may be utilized with an automated flow cytometry based hematology analyzer.
2. Background of Related Art
Analysis of the leukocyte subpopulation in a blood sample is an important step in clinical pathology. It provides important information for diagnosis of pathological infection and disease, and is useful in monitoring progress in recovery of patients following treatment.
Leukocytes are any of several types of blood cells that help with defending the body from infection. The different mature forms include granulocytes, including neutrophils (heterophils), basophils, and eosinophils; monocytes, including macrophages; and lymphocytes. These mature forms have different functions, including ingesting bacteria, protozoans, or infected or dead body cells; producing antibodies; and regulating the action of other leukocytes. They act mostly in the tissues. Blood normally contains about 5,000-10,000 leukocytes per cubic millimeter.
Traditional methods for blood analysis involve staining a blood sample with vital stains and counting individual cells on a slide under a microscope to determine the absolute number and percentage of various sub populations within a whole blood sample. For accuracy and reliability, this approach is dependent on the skill and experience of the technologist making the slides and counting the cells. In addition, the method is time consuming and often lacks statistical robustness as only a few hundred cells may be counted per sample. Automated hematology analyzers, based on flow cytometry technology, offer an improvement over the limitations of the manual method by counting thousands of cells within seconds.
A pre-requisite for automated leukocyte analysis is the lysis of red blood cells (RBC) prior to measurement and stabilization of the white blood cells (WBC) during the measurement of each sample. In addition, in order for the different sub populations of the WBC to be analyzed individually, the morphological differences between these populations must be maintained and/or enhanced for effective response by the detector system used for the analysis. For measurement systems based on electrical impedance (i.e., Coulter Principle), size differences are of utmost importance in distinguishing one population from another. For light scatter based measurements, resolution between individual leukocyte sub populations depends on a complex combination of size, internal structure, and relative refractive indices of the cellular material. As a result, whether or not a reagent system can enable accurate identification and analysis of individual leukocyte sub populations after removal of the RBC by lysis can only be determined by experimentation.
Improved reagent systems for blood analysis remain desirable. Such a system should allow rapid, one-step multi-part leukocyte differential analysis of whole blood, in embodiments, in an automated hematology analyzer. The reagent conditions should be neither too acidic nor too alkaline, preferably, in near physiologic pH environment using fewer optical detectors. The reagents and analyzer should not subject the leukocytes to harsh reagent conditions that can degrade one or more of the leukocyte sub populations.